(by Steve Hopkins) The 2025 Pan American Cup, the ITTF Continental Cup for the Americas, starts this week at the 888 Table Tennis Center in Burlingame, a suburb of San Francisco.  The event will have $20,000 in prize money, the players will earn ITTF ranking points, and those that reach the semifinals (in Men’s Singles […]

(by Steve Hopkins) USA’s Kanak Jha has been busy, and the hard work is paying off.  Jha’s list of accomplishments include winning the US Open, and most recently a Top 16 finish at the Singapore Smash.  Jha has been consistently logging success after success in the German league.  He is 10-3 in total matches against […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Japanese defender, Yuto Muramatsu, was the surprise winner at the WTT Feeder Series event in Dusseldorf.  China’s Chen Yuanyu entered as the top seed, but he fell in the Round of 16 to Korea’s Kim Minhyeok.  The second seed was Germany’s Ricardo Walther, and he lost to 19 year old German Wim […]

(by Steve Hopkins) All four of the top spots shuffled in the latest World Rankings.  Lin Shidong rode his Singapore Smash win all the way to World No. 1.  Wang Chuqin dropped one position to World No. 2.  Liang Jingkun jumped up one spot to No. 3, overtaking Tomokazu Harimoto who falls one spot to […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT) A press release this morning from World Table Tennis (WTT) seemingly reverses direction on participation requirements in key WTT Series events.  WTT announced today that they will remove mandatory participation requirements for all WTT Grand Smashes effective immediately.  Further, two annual exemptions will be possible for WTT Champions events, allowing […]

(by Steve Hopkins) The USA’s pull in our sport is increasing.  WTT events now regularly grace our shores, the United States Smash (the first of this highest level of WTT tour events) will be played this July in Las Vegas likely bringing the highest level of prize money for a single table tennis tournament that […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Tan’s Table Tennis Training Club is the first full-time table tennis club in the greater Cincinnati area.  The club is located just to the Northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, a few miles from the 275 Expressway and just off of I-42.    The location provides easy access to greater Cincinnati and Dayton. The […]

(by Steve Hopkins) World No. 2 Lin Shidong entered the Singapore Smash just 1000 points behind World No. 1 Wang Chuqin.  Shidong shined in Singapore, with dominant results extending across three events. In Singles, Shidong went 3-0, 3-1, 3-0, 4-1, and 4-0 to reach the Final.  And once in that Final, he outlasted World No. […]

(by Steve Hopkins) World No. 1 Wang Chuqin fought back from a 1-3 deficit to even the match, but lost 12-10 in the last game to Liang Jingkun.  The ripples of that Semifinal result could bring us a new No. 1 on Sunday. World No. 2, Lin Shidong played a tight match with France’s Alexis […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Americans had a strong showing at the Singapore Smash, with runs to the Final 16 in both Men’s and Women’s Singles.  Kanak Jha secured a great win over Sweden’s Truls Moregard (World No. 7) to reach the Round of 16, but fell to Germany’s Dang Qiu (World No. 10) on Thursday.  On […]